Perdido 03

Monday, December 29, 2014

Gov. Andrew Cuomo Tuesday evening vetoed a measure that would have
created alterations to the state’s teacher evaluation system.

The veto was announced in a batch of bill approvals and additional vetoes Tuesday night.
The measure was one Cuomo negotiated, submitted a “message of
necessity” in order to waive the three-day aging process and ultimately
introduced himself as a program bill.

But the governor had always indicated he was reluctant to alter the
evaluation system in order to accommodate concerns raised over the
Common Core education standards.

Cuomo’s veto of the measure in fact comes as little surprise
following his comments at a year-end cabinet meeting that suggested he
would take a hard-line approach with the state’s teachers union come
2015.

Indeed, Cuomo plans to push for an overhaul of the state’s education
system next year, broadly hinting at plans to centralize power in
education policy making in the executive branch, and not the
semi-autonomous Department of Education, which is controlled by the
Board of Regents.

In his veto message of the safety net measure, Cuomo wrote the
results of the most recent teacher evaluations — which found less than 1
percent of teachers were rated ineffective — “are not an accurate
assessment.”

Cuomo pledged in the veto message to propose “comprehensive reforms”
to the evaluation system next year, adding that signing the bill as it
is would “make no sense.”

“Instead, it is critical that we make systematic improvements to the
evaluation system so that it acts as a rigorous, accurate, and reliable
measure that will allow districts and schools to meaningful
differentiate between educators,” the veto message states.

So, Cuomo vetoes his own CCSS "shield bill" for teachers, promises "systematic improvements" to the evaluation system (i.e., more "ineffective ratings" for teachers) and the Times runs a front page story about Silver being the target of a federal investigation.

4 comments:

No one should be surprised that Cuomo has decided to reneg on anything. He is the scummiest of politicians. He has routinely stepped all over anyone in his path and has muscled his way into power. No wonder he and his pal Chris Christie are in cahoots over the Port Authority ... my only questions is why can't anyone in the media EXPOSE Cuomo for all the world to see? Is the NY political machine SO strong that it can continue to protect one of the most corrupt politicians of our generation? Is the Wall Street $$$ and private interest $$$ so big that it can pay to cover up this bully's repeated misuse of power?

Aside from the fact that Cuomo bold-face LIED to the citizens of NYS over Common Core implementation during his now infamous "all dressed in white, kitchen table, humble parent" BS re-election campaign commercial, he is throwing down the gauntlet at the feet of public school educators in a way that will drive a rift of epic proportions moving forward between the executive branch of NYS government and what used to be, a fine education department (long ago).

If NYSUT, the UFT and AFT continue to play the game of "see-hear and speak no evil" well, then we're done for. Never before in my memory has a sitting NYS governor created such a climate of acrimony between his office and public servants. This is sickening and it is high time that the field pushed back in a meaningful way.

They'll go after Shelly for undisclosed payments made to him, but somehow Cuomo skates on major corruption. How much dough has he taken from charter backers to push ed deform? How much dough did he get from gambling consortia to expand legalized gambling? How much money did he get from REBNY and associates to hand out millions in tax breaks? How much did he get from Hollywood to hand them tax breaks that allow them to make movies here in NY on the state's dime? What shenanigans is he pulling over the PA? Over Bridgegate? Over Moreland?